So I am stumped. I really don't know what to do. With my blood tests previous to this I was over the range for T3 but I was starting to feel better. I was told "You are over medicated whatever you feel. If you only feel well with high FT3 then you will have to decide whether the increased risks of developing osteoporosis and atrial fibrillation are acceptable in order to feel well today" so I, of course, decided to lower my T3. I have since had another flair up brought on by a long haul flight so I thought I would get a full blood panel to see what was going on. The results in the attached picture is on 3 grains ndt and 25mcg T3. Below are my past blood panels for comparison.

I can see I need to raise vit D, and B12 again. (Would this have anything to do with the rapid hair loss?) Any suggestions I am all ears. Feeling so frustrated, I just don't know what to do. Sorry for the negative tone! R xx

6 Replies

The blood tests used is for the use of levothyroxiner alone so I don't think when on anything other than levothyroxine that our bloods can 'fit' into these ranges.If we take T3 only our T4 will be very low and T3 high as we are not taking T4 and our thyroid gland will be producing very little or none. I shall give you a link which may be helpful. This doctor (below) only prescribed NDT or T3 - never levothyroxine. (amended link below)

The potential harm from the use of thyroid hormone has been grossly exaggerated by the endocrinology specialty. Despite this, patients and their doctors should exercise caution to avoid thyroid hormone overstimulation. They can best do so by ignoring the endocrinology speciality’s exaggerations, and seeing the potential for harm with proper perspective.

Needless Worry Over Potential Harmful Effects of Thyroid Hormone

The three main potential harmful effects from the misuse of thyroid hormone are bone thinning, heart problems, and acute adrenal crises.

Osteoporosis. Through the 1980s and 1990s, doctors forced

millions of patients’ to keep their thyroid hormone doses too low

in order to avoid causing osteoporosis. In the early 1990s, studies

began appearing in journals showing that TSH-suppressive doses

of thyroid hormone don’t cause excessive bone thinning, and certainly

don’t cause osteoporosis or an increased rate of fractures.

For years, I’ve (JCL) talked with bone density radiologists

about the potential for bone thinning from the use of thyroid hormone.

Some have chuckled over the absurdity of the endocrinologists’

belief that TSH-suppressive doses of thyroid hormone cause

significant bone thinning, osteoporosis, or an increase in fractures.

Bone density tests of our own patients have shown that those

taking higher-end thyroid hormone doses usually have higher bone

density. The main cause of their higher bone density is that their

thyroid hormone doses are high enough to enable them to exercise

vigorously enough to thicken their bones. And, of course, their

wholesome diets and nutritional supplements also contribute.

It appears that the conventional endocrinologists’ scientifically

false belief that TSH-suppressive doses of thyroid hormone cause

osteoporosis has actually contributed to bone thinning among patients.

Those restricted to T4-replacement therapy usually are too

weak and fatigued to exercise vigorously. Their low physical activity

level has undoubtedly caused progressive thinning of their

bones, as well as deterioration of their health in general.

If a patient already has osteoporosis when she begins using thyroid

hormone, caution is prudent. If she hasn’t recentlly had a bone density

study, she should ask her doctor to order one. She should ask him to order

follow-up studies at intervals, perhaps every sixmonths. She may have

to teach the doctor that, despite the opinion of conventional endocrinologists, we absolutely cannot accurately infer from a TSH level the effect of a dose of

thyroid hormone on bone density. If the doctor wants to know the

effect, he should measure it directly by ordering a bone density

study.

When the patient’s dose of thyroid hormone is high enough to

enable her to exercise, she should do “bone-jerking” types of exercises

to tolerance each day. She should also make sure she gets

enough nutrient complex and protein each day to help thicken hbones. The complex we take includes the nutrients listed in Table

2.

Heart Problems. “You’re going to have a heart attack and

die!” is the warning many doctors give their patients when they ask

to be treated with desiccated thyroid—and especially if they ask for

T3. (If you haven’t read the Foreword to this book by Vicky

Massey, LMP, you may find interesting her experience with a doctor

who bellowed this warning at her.) Where these doctors get this

idea is a mystery, but they certainly don’t get it from the scientific

literature.

The belief of these doctors that patients using desiccated thyroid

or T3 run a high risk of heart attacks is clearly ignorance. Still,

though, it’s prudent for each patient to take reasonable precautions

when using thyroid hormone. We recommend that each patient at

least get a baseline EKG before starting to use thyroid hormone. If

the patient’s doctor has any doubts about the health of her heart, a

consultation with a cardiologist is wise. We’ve referred many patients

for cardiac consults before they began taking thyroid hormone.

Rarely, a cardiologist has recommended that the patient only

cautiously increase her thyroid hormone dose. Never has a cardiologist

reported to us that a patient should not use thyroid hormone.

Most patients with heart disease can safely use thyroid hormone.

In fact, using the hormone is likely to improve the patients’

heart disease. These patients, however, should use thyroid hormone

cautiously. And they—just like every other person who takes thyroid

hormone—should have a wholesome diet, take a full array of

nutritional supplements, and get regular aerobic exercise to tolerance.

If a patient has compromised heart function, her initial dosage should

be low enough to avoid aggravating the heart condition.If her doctor finds

that she tolerates the dose well, he should guide her through small dosage increases until she reaches her optimal dose. He must monitor her each step of

the way using all appropriate procedures to ensure her safety.

Recently, endocrinologists have warned that TSH-suppressive doses of thyroid hormone increase the risk of atrial fibrillation by 33%. A number of studies

showed that a certain set of people who had low TSH levels had a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation (see Figure 3).

Hi shaws, thank you so much for your reply. I can't seem to get to a page on that link? I had my doubts about that statement (though I believe it was meant well) so I started to look for research that backed it up... whereI have found further statements to the same degree as that one, none of these can be backed up by any conclusive evidence. I would like to try a T3 only regime - this has come about because I misplaced my NDT and had to wait about 2 weeks to receive my next prescription, so I have been using T3 only now for about a week and I have to admit, I'm feeling a little better for it. Is it possible I just can't tolerate the T4 or possibly the fillers in NDT? or perhaps its just a placebo effect. either way I would like to give a T3 only regime a try to see how that goes, do you have any experience with that? Thank you again for your reply! It certainly help to ease the anxiety I have been feeling. R xx

Sorry the link didn't work. Sometimes there's a problem because all of Dr Lowe's work has been archived and can be awkward sometimes but I was able to access it to copy/paste but it doesn't work at present on the one above. The part statement above was by a Scientist/Researcher/doctor.